Returning to Saint Vladimir's
by kearavin
Summary: They were seconds away from seeing us. I helped Liss in, trying to appear as calm as possible; her emotions were still all over the place. You would think after being my friend for so long, doing dangerous things would get a little easier, like it had for me, but apparently not.
1. Chapter 1

Author: This is my first fanfict story, its based around the start of VA. just give it a try and let me know what you think.

I dont own anything from VA.

Oscar hissed at something outside the window, i welcomed anything that would him distracted him from almost attacking me every time i come within a meter of him. Most animals disliked Dhampire's but me in particular they seemed to loath. Oscar seemed like a perfect, chubby orange ball of fluff with big innocent eyes to everyone else, but to me he was the spawn of satan. What's up his ass, i muttered to myself.

Still woozy from blood loss from Lissa's bite, i stumbled over to the window ledge, i had worked up a better resistance to the blood loss effects having suffered them for so long so it didnt take me long to recover. But for a few moments the world still spun. It was like wearing someone else glasses, everything thing would blur at first and then eventually focus. It was fun for about a minute before it gets annoying and starts to hurt your eyes.

I stood at the window, searching for the source of Oscar's discomfort when I saw them, barely visible through darkness and the tree line. Two male Dhampire's, one well built and about average height and the second guardian looked shorter than his companion and not as well built, more of a lean muscled type, my guess is he would be quick. Really quick. It was too dark to make out any features but there was an air of determination around them. They were close enough that i could probably throw something at them. Oscar's reaction made sense, I mean he hated me but despite my numerous threats to make him into kibble, I wouldn't actually hurt him, or lissa for that matter, whom he had become fiercely protective of. Dread filled my stomach; they'd seen me and they knew they had been busted.

"Shit" I swore and bolted down the stairs to where Lissa was making me a sandwich. My stomach grumbled and complained as i thought about the food it was about to miss out on.

"We're leaving. Right now. " Lissa looked up in surprise, and nodded, she didn't need to be reassured that I was certain. She could see it clearly on my face, she sighed and handed me the sandwich. I don't know how she did it but even looking exhausted, still recovering from her nightmare and in a baggy uni top and bright pink pajama pants she looked like a super model.

"Liss, i dont have time to eat, seriously get your ass moving now." I said exasperated. We desperately had to get moving, we were losing our head start.

"Rose you always have time to eat" Lissa tired to joke.

"Your words not mine!" she called out before i made some sort of remark.

"You need it, think of the blood loss, Rose." she yelled seriously as she ran down the hall to the cupboard to grab our escape pack that we kept ever since we moved in. I shoved the sandwich in my mouth. Liss made sure we were always prepared to move at a second's notice, it pay off to have someone thinking ahead always worrying, rather than my tendency to brush everything off, claiming we would cross that bridge when we came to it. Lissa thought i just liked the thrill, the sense of danger, basically calling me an adrenaline junky. i argued i thought better under pressure and the results always come back better than the times when i had planned ahead. I raced out the door without looking back, dragging liss out behind me.

We didn't have time to be sentimental; this had become one of my favourite places we'd stayed at over the last 2 years but I didnt let myself think of all the things we'd be giving up by running again since it was the only option we could consider. I shoved out the door, scanning the area. i couldn't see them immediately and that was good. i hope.

Liss was scared, she tired to hide it but it was obvious. _I'm not going back, I'm not going back,_ she chanted over and over again to herself. Through her emotions I could feel her determination and her faith that I would protect her like always.

_Come on, rose think, what would the guardians be thinking._

We were racing down the street, hoping that we still had the head start advantage. We'd be outnumbered, liss cant fight so that would leave them for me to handle. They'd be proper trained guardians not drop outs like me and my guess at least 8 of them, maybe more being the last of the royal line is kind of important. I can't take them right now; i was still a little dizzy but sandwich had helped and the adrenaline rushing through my veins took away some of the after effects from a moroi bite. Even if I could i fight them would need to know how many there was and they could just separate us and drag lissa away from me, I'm not going to risk that happening. They'd have constant communication and probably blocked off all obvious escape routes since they have had god knows how long to plan this out. I knew liss didn't want to go back, she was terrified of the thought and I didn't want her back there either, to many bad memories suffocated her there.

I did missed the academy, not that i would admit it out loud or anything; mostly the people and the novice classes, oh those i missed so much. It was great to go to a school where my tendencies to be violent and aggressive actually were a good thing. But this wasn't about what I wanted, _They come first_. _They always come first_. We had gotten two blocks from our apartment by now, I was grateful that I had made liss and I regularly run and I kept myself trained at least a little in fighting techniques. I picked up some street moves from a few of the school yard tumbles that id witnessed or more participated in. It was always going to be an unfair fight against me so I tired to even it out a few times, just to see what my opponent could do but it didn't help all that much. I quickly made a name for myself at the high schools and soon no one wanted to fight me. Which didn't help me train at all and did nothing to help some of my pent up anger. It became known quickly that liss was my only weakness and I didn't hesitate when it came to her, I spent more time suspended for picking fights with arrogant assholes than I did in school, but I always was close to liss in case something happened. I think many of the teachers actually appreciated it when i beat up a few of the cockier students, they would nurse their bruised egos and then they'd be wearier around me and not cause very much trouble, making the teachers jobs easier.

"Rose" lissa rasped, I had slowed down just a little bit by my distracting thoughts on how to outsmart the guardians and hadn't noticed. Lissa tugged me forward and I quickly scanned the area searching for them, they couldn't be far behind us now.

shit shit shit. I think i can hear them half a block away I guessed, and that's being optimistic. f_uck, think rose, think. you have to keep her safe. you promised_. Liss tripped on a bit of uneven pavement that she hadn't seen and nearly topped into an ally, it was dark and dirty and oh the smell was revolting, there must be rotting garbage down here from weeks ago. I grabbed her quickly, stopping her from falling and then out of the corner of my eye I saw a fire escape on the darker side of the building, barely visible.

When running away, with every logical escape route blocked, where would be the least expected place to look.

"Up" I nudged lissa towards the stairs. We ran down the ally way until we were standing beneath them, a ladder was attached to the stairs and lifted up, just out of my reach. I jumped and knew I was still to short. Bloody 5'2". I blamed my mothers genes, it was pretty easy since I couldn't exactly blame my height on my anonymous father. Although through process of elimination i realised i had picked up a few traits from my father, one being my fantastic hair. Not that would have minded having mums firey red hair but i did like looking like an exotic desert princess.

"Liss, on my shoulders" her surprised registered through the bond, but she quickly complied, now with our combined height, we could reach the ladder, liss pulled it down with a little help from me and scrambled up to the first platform. I raced up after her and as a last minute decision I pulled the ladder back up. I was on lissa's heels as we got up the next flight of stairs. We were to loud, _they'd notice! they'd notice and they'll catch us._ And oh god, Liss's emotions were strong.

"Rose" panicked consumed lissa, _shit to late. _We were more than three quarters of the way up the building only two more flights to go. We stopped abruptly and from our spot in the shadows of the darkness, we could see three guardians racing down the street, just reaching the opening of the alley way. It was clear they thought they'd lost us; I crouched unconsciously, making myself smaller and more inconspicuous. I dragging liss down with me, she gasped in surprise but make no other noise. I caught a glimpse of one of the guardians face, it was the shorter, leaner guardian, he was young, he didn't hide him emotions very well, It was easy to see the determination in his expression and a little bit of annoyance and frustration etched into the mix. I nearly laughed, that was one look I had seen so many times before that it had become impressive and almost a ridiculous amount. They kept searching, clearly at a loss.

_We might actually do this! _I thought.

And then behind me, I heard the hiss of a territorial cat, a sound Oscar often used towards me. In our rush up the stairs, I didn't notice that what I had dismissed to be a solid wall actually had windows into numerous apartments.

"oh fuck" I muttered just before the cat started carrying on inside the window, i was to close too it and it felt threatened. Of course it woke up its owner with all its noise. Lissa shot me an incredulous look just before a light turned on attracting the attention of the guardians and making our hiding spot completely obvious.

"Run. " I yelled to lissa. Climbing from the stairs onto the roof, I realised one think. We're on a fucking roof, with guardians maybe 40 seconds behind us. I could feel Lissa really start to panic now. _Crap!_ She better not start having a panic attack right now otherwise I couldn't have made this easier for them. We scurried to the edge of the building. i need a way down, i had to get lissa down.

Lissa had mostly been mindlessly following me since we left the apartment, but she was being bombarded memories from the academy, memories neither of us wanted to relive. Her breathing started coming out harsher and she was starting to feel suffocated, like someone was standing on her chest. i growled, i was standing at the edge of the roof, the next building was to far to jump. There weren't any cable lines connecting them together either like in the movies. Nothing to land on if we jumped only solid concrete, a jump from this height would definitely hurt a lot maybe even kill me. Going back the way wasnt an option, although that would be a surprise but i doubt it would be much of an advantage for more than a few seconds

The ledge, there's a ledge just below. i scrambled over the edge of the roof, hanging off by my figures, trying to stretch and reach the ledge. I was too short, my toes just brushing the rough surface, i stretched myself further trying to push myself down until i could stand.

"Rose" lissa hissed, fear laced her voice, she was thinking the same thing as me, definitely death if i slipped and fell, and i doubt she would be able to bring me back this time.

"it's okay liss, i've got an idea, just follow what i do." in truth it was exactly a very good well thought out idea but i think i could make i work. i was standing on the ledge by now, pressed tightly against a window, i started to shuffle over to make room for liss next to me.

"I promised didn't I. I wont let you fall." lissa nodded determinedly at me but I could see how afraid she was. We could hear the guardians racing up the stairs. I was getting impatient but I wasn't about to rush lissa. I'm not stupid. Shakily she climbed down, keeping one hand on the window panel, I tried to steady her, she didn't have to stretch as far as i did with her bit of extra height.

"good liss, look at you badass" i quietly encouraged her and i swear the faintest ghost of a smile crossed her lips. She was on the ledge by now and we were shuffling along. "Now what" Lissa whispered, the guardians were on the roof by now, what i wouldn't give for them not to be so damn efficient. i kept inching my way along the side of the building feeling for a window that i could open just the slightest bit. Liss was breathing harshly down my neck, but she wasnt about to have a panic attack at the moment i dont think, doing something distracting like stand on the side of a building on your toes must help.

Strangely Lissa's breath calmed me, it reminded me who this was all for and what i had to lose. I finally found a window that I could get open; I clawed my figures underneath until I had some leverage. _If I was doing my trials right now, I would totally be acing _I thought. The window was sticky and hard to open but I managed to get it open enough to slip inside.

The guardians were at the edge of the roof now; they were seconds away from seeing us. I helped Liss in, trying to appear as calm as possible; her emotions were still all over the place. You would think after being my friend for so long, doing dangerous things would get a little easier, like it had for me, but apparently not. They had seen what window we'd gone into, the place was seconds away from being swamped with guardians on this floor. We raced through the apartment, I didn't try keep quiet anymore, running into furniture and accidentally knocking things over as I scrambled to get out the door as quickly as possible. The guardian who climbed down after us, would be quick, probably quicker than we had been especially if it was that skinner kid.

Running out the door and into the hallway I realized we must have made a lot of noise in that apartment. Getting closer to the stairwell I heard a distinctive sound of a muffled scream and then something that sounded a lot like a lamp being pulled out of the wall socket and thrown, along a noise of surprise. I nearly burst out laughing at the racket. I would have loved for that to be recorded. We were down the first flight of stairs, and just about the pass the next floor. The guardians would expect us to use the stairs; that would have been the quicker escape so that's were they would be waiting for us. I pushed out the door that lead onto the next floor and raced down the hallways looking for the elevator. Liss was much calmer now; inside on solid ground, i think the lamp being thrown at the guardian had lifted both our spirits just a little bit.

I rounded a corner and nearly ran straight into the elevator. i pushed the button again and again willing it to hurry up and open. i just hoped the guardians hadn't thought to go in the elevators as well as the stairs. i pushed liss behind me anyway trapping her against myself and the wall just incase.

I counted down as i waited for the doors to open.

* * *

Sorrry guys! I didn't know where to end it and didnt want the chapter to get to long, so I ended it here. :)

The next chapter will be up shortly and may have some action in it.

If you guys have any ideas or criticism for me i would love to hear it. Oh and if there is any obvious mistakes of bits that dont make sense let me know. i could definitely use the help since i have no idea what im doing.

Thanks :D


	2. Chapter 2

I own nothing VA.

* * *

_... I counted down as i waited for the doors to open._

* * *

I was getting impatient by now, how long does a bloody elevator take? Unless they stopped it, but honestly who would think to do that. i started to fidget, _please give me a break, just this once, _i pleaded to who ever was listening. Lissa was still behind me, wedged between myself and the wall, nervousness radiating off her. Finally the bell rang for the elevator and i let out a breath i hadn't realised i had been holding.

We raced into the elevator, pressing the close doors button multiple times. A loud thumping noise coming from the hallway we were just in drew my attention. I looked at Lissa and she just shrugged, guess she had no idea what it was either. The guardian that climbed in the apartment window after us came barreling down the hallway running straight for us. My eyes widen in surprise, shit i had almost forgot about him.

Dammit it the doors weren't going to close in time, he'd be on us in seconds. Just as he was was about to reach us, i ran at him throwing my full body weight into slamming against him. As he stumbled he grabbed a hold of me and held, as he crashed to the floor, dragging me down with him.

It wasn't a bad move or it could have just been instinct. We grappled for a second until he had hold of my arms, keeping them locked down the sides of my body. I struggled but he wouldn't loosen in the slightest, our bodies were so closely pressed together that i could tell he smelt faintly of fire and had a little bit of acne scaring of his face, he was young by guardian standards and wasnt the most skilled guardian that i had ever seen, or maybe it was experience he was lacking.

I relaxed my body onto the guardian and after a few seconds his grip loosened the tinniest bit, he must of thought i was distracted or that i wouldn't keep fighting and that tiny second was all i needed. I managed to wiggle one arm free and punched him as hard as i could. I aimed for that snub nose of his but he moved just before i connected and i hit him in the eye instead, splitting the brow. Thats going to hurt, while he was disorientated and apparently, judging by his eyes a little surprised at the pack of the punch, i managed to completely slipped out of his grasp.

I turned to race back into the elevator where Lissa was holding the door open for me when something grabbed my ankle and i caused me to fall to the floor. I put my hands out to brace myself and when i landed I twisted around so i was lying onto my back and kicked the guardian in the soft spot between his neck and shoulder, where the skin was softer. I doubt anyone had ever kicked him there before and just as i had prayed, his automatic reaction was to let go of my foot giving me the chane to scrambled away from him and ran into the elevator before he had the chance to act again.

Liss and I stood in the elevator and i tried to fight it but i couldn't, I laughed.

"This is nuts" lissa said shaking her head pushing the button for the 8th floor.

"Its the apartment complex version of hide and seek" Lissa cracked a smile,

"you always were crazy good at that game, do you remember when you hid for 3 hours in the kitchen and the cook let you lick the donut batter to get you to shut up" and airy laugh escaped my lips,

"oh yeah, good old mags, she always saved me some breakfast incase i slept in" i sighed. The closer we got the 8th floor the more a sliver of nervous tension returned between us, i crouched into a defensive stance and waited for the doors when there was no immediate danger standing in front of the elevator doors i stuck my head out and quickly scanned the area. Seeing no guardians Lissa and i ran out the elevator and down the halls, turning left, right and another right. This place was so much bigger than i expected. Four doors, for different apartments on each side of the corridor, and at least 4 hallways. It had a simple urban look to it, with bricked walls and brown wooden floor boards floorboards and multicoloured doors all through.

i froze, there at the end of the hallway was a dark figure slipping silently into the stairwell. We must of just missed them, backing up slowly, so that we didnt cause any noise that would draw attention back to this floor, Liss and I went back down the hallway we had already come, the faint sound of a bass took me by surprised and at first i didn't recognise it and had stopped to listen. after recognizing the sound i turned and looked at liss, a small smirk beginning to form on my lips.

"of course you managed to find the only party in the building" Liss mumbled, i just grinned at her in response. Pin pointing the exact source of the noise i walked down the hallway, pulling my hair out of its pony tail and flipping it over my shoulder, i banged loudly on the door. It was a dark green door with stickers all over the front, all over lapping one another and formed the shape of a smiley face. i smirked at the idiocy of it, the door looked like it belong on a college campus. A human boy opened the door, he was probably around 20 years old and was extremely drunk, leaning heavily on the door frame. I realised with a shock he reminded me of someone i missed terribly, Mason with the messy red hair, freckles covering just about every inch and a playful grin on his face. Sometimes i miss the witty banter and flirting between me and Mason but i learnt to deal.

"Your having a party and didn't even think to invite your neighbours, thats not terribly nice of you, you know" i said grinning.

"Well than, if you do accept my sincerest apologies, would you like to come ladies?" the host, after looking us up and down, said opening the door further so we could walk in.

"Im Harry" he introduced "and welcome to my humble home." surprisingly harry didnt stumble over his words as much as i had expected if his coordination was any indication of how much he had to drink tonight.

"Lissa and Rose" I introduced.

"well then, Rose, Lissa i must say i am enjoying you attire for this evening, not the usual party outfit you see around but you two do make it work" Harry attempted to purr seductively, nodding his head towards our clothes. I raised my eyebrows in confusion and for the first time that night i noticed i wasnt wearing shoes and was dressed in a very washed out black band tank top with holes and a pair of running shorts while lissa was still in her baggy uni t-shirt and pink pyjama pants, not exactly party worthy but i didn't exactly find it in myself to care. I simply smiled and shrugged. I scanned the area of any sign of dhapmir's or potential threats, satisfied i allowed myself the relax a little.

"Drinks are that way" Harry nodded towards the kitchen

"and save me a dance later" he called as i pushed my way through the stream of people towards the kitchen, with Lissa following closely behind.

"That way" i nodded down the small hallway towards what i guessed to be the bedrooms. The whole apartment was packed, drunken people stumbling all over one another, every few metres there would be people hooking up and grinding in the middle of the walkway. I shoved my way past everyone and into one of the bed rooms where two people were heavily making out on the bed, not caring in the slightest about them.

"Get out" i said and after some arguing and a few threats, the two finally relented and grumbling scurried to get their clothes back on and get out the door.

Lissa sat on the corner of the bed, looking at the sheets with pinched lips and a disgusted look on her face, i couldnt help but smirk at her expression.

"get some sleep, we'll crash here for a few hours and leave first thing in the morning"

she looked at me with wide eyes, "um, can we find somewhere to sleep were the sheets aren't disgusting by any chance" she looked hopefully at me.

i laughed, "i doubt that theres clean sheets anywhere in this apartment so its either the bed or the floor, sorry liss." Grumbling the whole time, lissa stripped the sheets and with two fingers threw them in the corner as far away from herself as possible and climbed onto the bare mattress.

"i feel grotty just being near this bed you know, i doubt ill ever be able to feel clean again." Lissa dramatically announced. "Oh and by the way im choosing where were going next"

"What?! Oh no! Come on Liss, its my turn, please" i begged giving her my best puppy dog eyes.

She wasnt falling for it, she just looked at me with one eye brow raised, she was rubbing in the fact that i couldn't do that and she knew how jealous it made me.

"vegas was not even that bad" i grumbled.

"was not that bad?! your kidding right, do you know how many people i had to compel because of you?"

"yup" i said nodding and popping the 'p', "was kind of hard to miss, you know with the after effects of spirit and all"

"yeah well it was your own damn fault rose" i groaned, she was using the tone of voice that sounded similarly one a mother would use when scolding a child. But i couldn't help the small smile that forced its way onto my face as i thought about vegas. After a close encounter with some moroi sleeze bags, i didn't want to risk anyone, moroi or dhampir, finding us, so we booked it to vegas. I had a few mishaps with some locals, made somes friends and had a little bit of fun stirring up trouble. I felt like i hadnt done anything fun for years and the temptation was to great of a chance to pass up. Lissa ended up dragging me away from vegas and to portland, a week after we arrived.

"fine, but can it please be somewhere hot? or with a beach? Oh how about hawaii this time?" I looked up at Lissa hopefully, i couldn't stop a sigh that escaped my lips as i thought about lying on the beach in a bikini with sunscreen lotion being rubbed into my back. I could practically already feel the heat on my shoulders and the warmth of my skin that i recognised as getting a tan and the soft sand beneath me, moulding to my body shape.

"The Szelsky's own most of the island, sorry" i muttered to myself about the stupidity of a royal family owning most of a sunny, tropical paradise when they cant even be out in the sun to really to enjoy it and were depriving some of us run aways the chance to enjoy them self when lissa interrupted.

"We cold go to a lake house? go skiing, in a remote place and have it all to ourselves, we can just enjoy being on our own for a while" Liss suggested. We fell into a comfortable silence that wrapped around us like a blanket, imagining where we would be going next, that was until a drunk couple stumbled into the room i had now claimed as mine. I was in their faces before they'd even straightened themselves up.

"Shit!" the guy exclaimed, when he looked up and realised how closely i was now standing to them, while the girl hanging off him just giggled drunkenly and hiccuped.

"mind if we use this room for a bit their honey? or if you dont want to leave, you know you could always join us" the guy winked suggestively at me. i looked him up and down, fairly short, skinny but with a rounded face and a pointed nose. The girl attached to his side was kind of pretty, she was petite with unruly brown hair that was all over the place and was in black stilettos and a baby blue dress that was kind of loose and flowed nicely, held up by the thinest spaghetti straps with a deep back.

i snorted and muttered "not a chance", pushing them back out into the hallway. A little nudge from me mixed their uncoordinated stumbles was all it took for the pair to be back into mix of people in the crowded party. i slammed the door shut and locked the door, i pushed the dresser in front of the door for good measure, i had enough surprises for one night and didn't want any more if i could help it.

"Thank you rose" lissa said sincerely and i knew she wasnt just referring to keeping drunks out of our room for the night.

"you were pretty awesome tonight, all those action movies you dragged me to are rubbing off on you, your ideas are getting a little more extreme every time"

"Im not getting any inspiration from no action movies, thats all me baby" i smirked at her.

"Get some sleep Liss" i said as i went and sat by the window. I could tell Lissa was about to argue with me but the adrenaline had long worn off, lissa only had got a few hours sleep before her nightmare and as hard as she was trying to fight her exhaustion, it was a lossing battle. _"please __don't stay up all night Rose, you need your sleep aswell" _the words popped into my head and i knew they had come from lissa through the bond.

"you seem to forget im the better, more entertaining reincarnation of a goddess, thats the only explaination of my godly good looks, i dont need just silly things like sleep" i saw a small smile form on lissa's face just before she feel into a deep dreamless sleep. I knew i should be planning on what we were going to do tomorrow or the next day, its not like the guardians to give up this easily or at least i should be cleaning up my feet, they were constantly painful but for a little while i just wanted to sit and think about nothing.

* * *

A bang followed by a laugh brought me out of my head, i had been so absorbed in my thoughts that i never noticed when the sun came up a few hours later. i spent the rest of the night thinking about nothing for about 10 minutes before i started reminiscing about human high schools and the fun i had over the last 2 years. After scalding myself for not training harder and being more alert or generally more guardian like, i had come up with new training routines that were going to push me harder and hopefully not let me slack off again, unconsciously i had allowed myself to get comfortable and almost feel safe causing there to be room for mistakes. I wondered about what would happen if we went back or better yet never left the academy, how good of a guardian would i have become? what would i be doing? what would have happened to Lissa? i don't doubt things would have ended up worse if we had of stayed. Running was the only choice. When my thoughts started to go towards why we left i had to physically distract myself before i worked myself up and would have to deal with all my pent up anger towards the one fucker who had made both our lives so difficult.

There was a banging on the door and someone was fiddling with the door knob trying to open it.

"Rose, make them go away" Lissa groaned, squinting from the light, giving me her best pleading look. i laughed at her and made my way over to the door. i pushed the draws out of the door way and flung the door open ready to tell the person who infuriatingly enough had not stopped banging on the door, to go to hell when i saw it was harry and i felt myself soften just the littlest bit.

"Oh hey guys, i didn't know it was you two otherwise, um, you know" he trailed off, he smiled awkwardly at me, He looked like shit, his hair was a rats nest all over the place and his eyes were blood shot with bags underneath, he had a wicked hang over my the looks of things.

"i just came to get my clothes" he said as he shuffled past me and grabbed his stuff.

"did you have a good night?" i asked, i couldn't deal with the silence, compared to last night constant racket, it was unsettling.

"yeah, i did, but it could of been better" he winked at me.

"yeah it really could have" i flirted "shame we missed the chance really"

"well breakfasts in the kitchen whenever your hungry" harry announced as he walked out the door, my stomach grumbled in response to the mention of food earning a laugh from Lissa. Lissa grabbed the back pack off the floor and started to rummage through it looking for a chance of clothes, after a little while of not being able to find what she was looking for, she gave up and just emptied the contents onto the bed. In the bag we had packed some spare bank cards, small first aid kit, along with some clothes and a few other necessities like a stake and a knife.

"Hey since when was this in here!" i exclaimed, picking up the first aid kit, if i had of known this was here, i would of fixed up myself a long time ago.

"since i realised its you thats with me" Lissa replied rolling her eyes. Sitting next to Liss i grabbed out a few things and started cleaning up my feet. Running down portland streets bare foot and along roofs and the ledges seriously shreds the soles of your feet and resulted in my feet being cut up and even little bits of glass imbedded into my skin. As i cleaned my feet up, scrubbed off the dried blood and bandaged them, lissa changed, brushed her hair and teeth and emerged minutes later looking perfect as always. Lissa waited for me to pull up the long socks covering my bandages and hoping that they would offer a little bit of extra protection before we made our way into the kitchen. I looked ridiculous and my feet looked severely swollen since i wrapped the bandages so thickly but i admit i was proud that i still had pretty good first aid skills.

As we walked into the kitchen we realized that Harry really had gone all out and had a feast prepared for the people who stayed after last night, some looking as if they never went to sleep. In total there was 15 of us for breakfast including both couples that kicked out of the bedroom last night, the girls sheepishly avoided looking at me and flushed in embarrassment when i grinned at them and at first the boys glared at me for ruining their fun last night before eventually warming up to me.

I hadnt had breakfast with this many people since we left the academy and i never noticed how much i missed the playful banter involving an entire group. After a quick goodbye and Harry claiming he would stop by later to see us, i left feeling a little guilty for constantly lying to everyone. It seemed as though thats all i did these days, lied and kept everyone at arms length, trusting nobody expect for Lissa and myself. It made for a lonely place to live in.

We thanked Harry for last night and left when a few others did, hoping that if we were in a group and the guardians were still around we could avoid being jumped. As we walked out the building, i felt a shudder work its way up my spine and got the eerie feeling i was being watched, i caught lissa's eye and knew we shared the same feeling. Looks like this isn't over yet.

We worked our way into the middle of the pack, starting conversations with everyone, hoping to hide ourselves the littlest bit. I constantly scanned the area waiting for an attack but the streets were packed full of people going about their mornings making any guardians hanging around a bit harder to spot. The feeling followed me all the way down the street burning holes in the back of my head, making me tense and nervous.

Eventually we were forced to separate from the group we had been walking with, or rather they left to carry on with their lives and couldn't spend the day with us despite our protests, eventually lissa and i found ourselves alone and a block away from the morning market. Worry radiated off lissa and i wrapped my arms around her shoulder hoping to calm her just a bit.

"Dont forget I promised, I wont let them hurt you again"

"i believe you, you've always protected me" Lissa answered automatically._ No_, I thought _i wasn't able to once and look where it got us_. The academy reminded Liss of how much she has lost; her family, her friends and ever her sanity for a while. Along with her the feeling of security that the academy was suppose to provide but could never re-achieve, ever since Lissa was attacked my Victor Dashkov. I couldn't let Lissa go back to the academy, if we were to go back i would be risking the chance that Lissa could fall into the same mind set she had before we left, the one that furthered my resolve to leave and branded the importance of running into my brain, how it was our only choice. _They come first,_ _their safety above everything._ The scars helped as a reminder, emotionally for Lissa and physically for myself; everyone betrays you, its inevitable and in the end its you against the rest of the world with the only person you can rely on is yourself.**  
**

The tension never left Lissa's shoulders, it surrounded us like a blanket, smothering us. The more we tried to fight it or pretend it didn't exist the tighter it seemed to clutch to us. The tightness seemed to make its way into Lissa's chest and squeezed at her lungs, _Rose promised, you know she'll take care of you, she wont let anything happen. Nothings going to happen. Rose has got this, Nothings going to happen._ Lissa began repeating to herself, almost as if it had become her mantra. But despite her attempts, Lissa couldnt hide the slight hint of paralysing fear that clutched onto her, not from me anyway. Lissa and I were at an ally way, one that lead us to the market, it was a short cut but it was deserted and i could be risking an opportunity for an attack, i was standing there debating the pros and cons of going down the ally way when lissa made the decision for me.

"There was a guardian a few hundred meters from us, he was outside the coffee shop and i have no idea if he saw us or not, so were going to have to risk the ally way" lissa explained dragging me along. Hidden in the ally way and the shadows of the buildings, we sprinted to the end. When we had nearly reached the end when a guardian jumped out in front of me. _where the fuck had he come from. _I scolded myself on my poor guardian skills once again as i skidded to a halt, yanking lissa behind me. He was pretty young and average in every sense of the word, type of person you passed in the street and face you wouldn't be able to remember later on.

"come on, trouble, you've had your fun, now its time for the princess to come home" he said as if he was speaking to two children playing on the street. It made me want to smack that patronizing tone out his voice.

"hell no" i said, "this only just started to get interesting," he's stalling, i realized which means theres more that are going to be close and on us within a few short minutes possibly seconds, without wasting another second i attacked first, he was fairly young possibly only a few years older to me, cocky too and arrogance lead to mistakes, which i fully intended to take advantage of. He didn't expect me to attack so quickly, i guess he thought we would bantering back and further for a little longer. I lunged at him and punched him square in the chest, right where his sternum connected to his ribs and then on the side of his head, clipping his temple. While he was momentarily disorientated i punched him in the nose, hearing a sickening crunch of bones it was oddly satisfying. He grunted in pain and while he went to grab his noise or go offensive i wasn't sure but either way he left his side unprotected and with a kick to the side of his ribs, he lost his balance. What were they thinking, this guy can't fight at all. You would think that they would send better guardians to retrieve the last remaining Dragomir, this guy would die against a strigoi. He fell to the ground rolling slightly away from me.

Liss was worried about the other guardians not being far away but she hadn't started panicking yet which was good, i couldn't have her starting to freak out, it almost seemed as if she was numb, the adrenaline making her stronger emotions be side lined for the moment. We started to make our way back towards the end of the ally walking a little more cautiously now, i didn't want to be caught by surprise again. I was constantly looking over my shoulder making sure no one was sneaking up behind us. I was faintly aware that the running had caused some of the cuts on my feet to start bleeding again but this was only because Liss had noticed and reminded me through the bond about them.

The guardian i had knocked to the ground hadn't gotten back up to his feet yet, but he was sitting up glaring at me holding his nose. The most damage i would of caused was probably to his ego. i realized that if he thought he didn't need to attack then he must assume we wouldn't get far and the others would be here within a lesser time then i originally thought or that he was to dizzy at the moment to stand and fight me again. I was hoping for the latter. Sure enough i had only taken a few steps when the guardian lissa saw on the street showed up, he was probably about 200 hundred meters from me. I pushed lissa down in between two garbage bins, and put a piece of cardboard on top of her head, hoping it may hide her just a little more. While both guardians in my line of vision had seen were she was, i was hoping she would be hidden from anyone else that showed up. Her nose wrinkled from the smell unconsciously and i shot her an apologetic look.

I took a fighting stance in the middle of the ally a little bit back from where lissa was hidden, so that i could still see her out of the corner of my eye. The guardian seemed to realize i meant business. This guy was older, little bits of grey hair beginning to show. He was in good shape, really good shape and experienced, it showed even in his posture. i still didn't have time to wait around, i needed to get to that market so i charged for him and just before i reached him i ducked down and rugby tackled him to the ground. One of the football guys i had made friends with school taught my that and at that moment i was glad i annoyed him till he caved. It took old timer by surprise and he fell to the ground with an 'oomph'. Seeing the opportunity i swung or his face but he had recovered by now and deflected the blow, with quick reflexes he responded with a punch of his own, since he was on the ground with me bending over him in order to punch, he landed the hit on my face. It was a good punch seeing as it was thrown from the ground but still managed to make me stumbled slightly since i was still bent over. When i had straighten myself up, he had already rolled and was crouching low to the ground ready to spring. He jumped up quickly and punched me in the face again and then in the chest. I forgot how quick guardians could be and how much they hurt. He managed to hit my the side of my eye splitting the brow causing blood to start running down my face. I looks like me and the guardian from last night could be matching now. The adrenaline allowed the pain to be numbed and helped me focus but i couldn't think of a solution to winning this fight, something this guy wouldn't see coming. I seriously needed more training when we got out of here. I acted on instinct rather than strategically and faked a punch to his stomach, he fell for it and gave me the chance to slam the palms of my hands against his ears. Disorientated, old timer tried to shake off the dizziness just has i was about to punch him again and i realized a second before connecting that the hit wouldn't land were it was suppose to and i pulled back slightly but because the momentum already in motion my fist still hit his temple knocking him out.

_Turn around rose! Turn around! There's more! _lissa said through the bond. She was trying not to panic but she was. Thanks to Lissa's warning i jumped away from old timers unconscious body just as someone went to grab me. I rolled away and faced two more guardians. Lissa was behind them still hidden in the spot i put her in. But more would be here any second, I could distract them and give her the opportunity to run. It wasn't exactly a good idea to send Lissa off on her own with guardians all around us but i was only thinking about keeping Lissa away from danger.

"Lissa get to Johnny's" i called, Johnny was the owner of a bakery at the market who i brought my daily donuts from. He knew us well by now and i knew Lissa would know what i wanted. The guardians looked momentarily confused at my random yelling since as far as they could see Lissa wasn't in the ally, this gave me about a second to turn around and run down the ally way the opposite way to which lissa was going and have the guardians follow closely behind me. They were on my heels by now and one of them grabbed my arm and pulled me backwards. I stumbled, turned and used the momentum to fall into him shoving him away from me as hard as i could. His surprised at my unexpected reaction allowed me to be able to take back my arm. I was going against two boys that towered over me, not that that was hard, the two guardians standing in front of my had to be twins, they were exactly identical in every way i could see at a quick glance. I could feel the blood dripping down my face but i ignored it. They must have dismissed my yelling as a poor attempt at a distraction, bad mistake on their behalf, from where i was standing facing the two guardians i could see Lissa sprinting down towards the opening of the ally way and to the market.

I crouched into a defensive stance, making it clear that i wasn't going without a fight. The two looked at each other and the one on the right shrugged. It was the twin on the left that then attacked first, he faked a very realistic punch to my chest which i stupidly fell for and a second to late i realized his other fist was coming straight for my cheek. He was to quick for me to be able to react before he landed his punch, i stumbled from the impact and could taste blood in my mouth and was almost sure one of my teeth had come loose. i spat out the blood like the classy lady, i consider myself to be and he just smirked in response._ Fucker. _i liked my smile and all my teeth for that matter. I was pissed now, more at myself than the guardian but neither less i was going to take it out on him. i threw a series of punches; a jab to his chest, cross to his shoulder, uppercut to under his chin. He grunted and i guess he may have bit his tongue, his brother made a grab at me but i ducked out of the way, i wouldn't be able to take both these guys on, they were built like brick shit houses and obviously better fighters than me and apparently faster as well.

Panic flashed threw me but it wasn't mine, i instinctively looked for Lissa and saw that she was maybe about 10 meters from the opening of the ally way, on top of a dumpster with a bin lid in her hands. Standing below her was a guardian obviously trying to calm her down. I noticed that even with lissa on top of the bin, he wasn't much shorter than her. I would of found this hysterically funny if it was any other situation and the fear lissa felt wasn't clearly written on her face. One of the brothers tried to make a grab for me again but i ducked again, jumped to the side, run around them and raced towards Lissa. The two twins were chasing after me, sure they were faster earlier but right now they weren't as desperate to get to Lissa as i was. I ran full force into the side of the guardian that was trying to talk lissa down, it didn't register until a few seconds before we went crashing to the ground that while earlier i noticed he was tall but holy shit this guy was monstrous compared to me. Where the twins were built like brick shit houses, this guy was a mountain of pure muscle and i was frankly surprised that i managed to knock him over. I decided it must of been the unexpected impact of bulldozing myself into mountain man that allowed me to knock him away from Lissa and to the ground. I was strangely aware that i was doing a lot of tackling today and throwing my body around as much as i was, it was going to be a bitch when the adrenaline wore off. I really needed to get some new moves.

As Mountain Man and I crashed into the ground, i landed on top of him and his arms were wrapped around me. Surprised ran threw me, it isn't generally the automatic response that when someone tackles you, for you to protectively wrap your arms around them especially when they're trying to kick your ass. As i was sprawled all over this guy, i could see what he looked like now, with long dark brown hair tied back, not that it kept much of his hair from falling in front of his face and deep chocolate brown eyes. _Oh god, if he isn't the most delicious thing that i'd ever seen._ My hair fell over my face like a curtain, making it seem as though we were all alone, as i lay there drinking him in, i realizes that he was doing exactly the same thing, staring at me with different emotions crossing those gorgeous eyes, to quickly for me to decipher. When another flash of fear ran through me i realized that right now however hot this guy was, it was irrelevant. i automatically looked towards Lissa and noticed i had been laying on this guy for about 3 seconds to long. I quickly rolled off brown eyes, surprisingly he let me and i stood in front of lissa. I grabbed her off the dumpster and put her behind me, grabbing her hand i gave it a reassuring squeeze. All three guardians were standing close to us by now, much closer than i would have liked.

"Johnny" i muttered under my breath, confusion ran threw Lissa. "Johnny" i muttered again, understanding and a bit of doubt flashed through lissa. I squeezed her hand again and she squeezed back. Without missing a beat Lissa took off running me following closely behind and a half a seconds later i was aware of the footsteps chasing closely behind us. Lissa's desperation made me push myself faster. Just as we reached the first aisle of the marker, a tinted SUV, one that looked suspiciously like the one that had been sitting outside Masons apartment complex earlier pulled up behind us bringing more guardians. I made sure to keep Lissa in front of me as we ducked and wove our way through the crowd, running through stores with many obscenities being left in our wake. The guardians were never faltering and no more than three steps behind us the whole time. _Shit i hated that there so fast right now._ I quickly jerked Lissa left, pulling her along with me and kept running every few seconds changing directions.

I saw Johnny's bakery not far away from me only across and isle. I know why i thought it was a good idea to go here, its not like its exactly going to help us but at that point it was my only functioning thought. Just before we don't reached Johnny's i was yanked backward and crushed into a solid wall. _We are in a market, why the fuck is there a wall?_ just as i was being yanked backwards i pushed lissa forwards causing her to stumble and fall into a pile of clothes on a table. After a moment of shock, i came to my senses and realized that i hadn't crashed into a wall, like i first thought it was mountain man. I pulled backwards out of his reach and looked over at Lissa, i would have laughed at the sight of her sprawled all over the table, on a heap of clothes, with hair wild and disheveled like i had never seen it, at any other time but i was to worked up. I just pulled her up and pulled her beside me making sure she stayed close by. Looking around i saw we were officially surrounded.

"fuck" i sighed, Lissa realized this as well and as i quickly looked around, i noticed they all looked pretty lethal except for the two young ones that i had already met, last night the one whose eye brow i split and the kid from few minutes ago whose nose i broke. The twin two shit-houses were there, along with mountain man and old timer who had recovered and was standing along side the others and a few more i didn't recognize but what surprised me the most was Alberta Petrov was standing in front me as well. Everyone kept their faces blank, the guardian mask that we all seemed to try and perfect but on Alberta's face i noticed she didn't try and hide her emotions from me. I cracked the smallest, barely there smile at the sight of her.

"Wow, all this for me?" i asked with wide doe eyes that made me seem innocent and a voice laced faked amazement. Alberta grinned at me and old timer snorted in response while the others tried to hide the fact that their masks had cracked just the tinniest bit but i saw it. I glanced quickly at Lissa, trying to decide what to do next, i still stood tense and ready to fight. Lissa just looked exhausted and utterly worn out, i couldn't tell what the right choice to do next was based off her emotions since they were all over the place.

_Maybe its time we go back _Lissa said through the bond. My eyes darted to lissa in surprise before i could stop them. _Come on Rose, _she sighed _You never know, maybe things will be better now. _I nearly snorted in response, this time it was a little bit harder to cover up, we couldn't risk anyone finding out about the bond. _Plus your hurt and i don't think you can run much further on your feet. _I fought the urge to look down at my feet, i knew what i would see, blood socked socks, i could feel that the wounds had reopened but i still stood tense and strung up like a wire, while the guardians just watched, waiting for my next move. Lissa started assaulting my brain through the bond with memories from all the fun in the academy. She knew, i knew how much she was afraid of going back but she also knew about all the things that i missed and she played on that weakness; reminding me of Mason, and all our friends the trouble i caused especially with Alto and the parties. My eyes never really strayed from Alberta's, she could see the war raging behind them, i think everyone could. I fought the urge to sneak glances at Mountain Man as well and i had to physically stop my eyes from being drawn to where he was standing. All my adrenaline had worn off and i had been standing here for at least a minute trying to decide if there was even an option at this point. I was so tired, i just wanted to get off my feet and sleep for days upon days. Finally i groaned accepting that i had no other option.

"Fine" i announced "we'll go nicely, but can i please get a donut before we go" i pleaded to alberta pulling the doe eyes on her again.

* * *

so this chapter took me a little longer to put up than i thought it would, but there you go some action for you. 7,000+ words im pretty proud of that effort. Dont expect them all to be this long, i just had a bit of extra time to put into this one

Let me know what you think and any criticism you got for me would be appreciated :)

by the way if anyone wants to Beta for me, that would be great too!  
Thanks! xo


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